Grace rescues Josh
by Rushme
Summary: In this story Grace and Josh are together some time after Connor had disappeared off the scene. As the title suggests it is Grace who needs to do the rescuing here.
1. Walking home

Part 1

Josh and Grace leave the restaurant and head for home. As they stroll along the road arm in arm they can hear yelling coming from inside a house they are passing. All of a sudden the front door flies open and a man holding a gun appears on the footpath in front of them. He is agitated and looks like he is spoiling for a fight. Turning towards them at first he looks surprised to see anyone but immediately he becomes aggressive "right you two in the house."

Josh instinctively steps in front of Grace. It's not that he doesn't respect her as a TR officer but if anyone is going to be in the firing line it's going to be him not her. He tries some negotiation, "listen mate you don't want to do this, give me the gun and we can talk about what's going on."

But the man is beyond being able to listen to anything and yells "I said get in the house."

Josh tries again "ok, how about I come inside but you let her go" he says indicating Grace, "you don't need both of us."

Grace meanwhile is furtively trying to dial her phone. She wants to reach Lawson but as the phone is still in her pocket she has no idea, who if anyone, she is calling.

The man is becoming more and more agitated and steps to the side to point the gun directly at Grace as he repeats his order "I said get in the house, both of you."

Josh looks around. The street is deserted. There is nothing else he can do without putting Grace in more danger. He looks back at Grace telling her with his eyes that it'll be okay and puts his hands up in front of him in a gesture of compliance. Slowly he moves to the side letting Grace pass him so he is between her and the man as they head into the house.

As he hears the door close behind them the last thing Josh sees is Grace's blonde head in front of him before everything goes black.


	2. It's all up to Grace

Part2

Grace looks around as she hears the crack of the gun handle on the back of Josh's head. She watches horrified as Josh drops to the floor and passes out cold in the passage of the house. She wants to check he is okay but the man is waving the gun in her direction yelling "get a move on, in there" indicating a door to the left. Grace cannot do anything for Josh at the moment without antagonizing the guy further. So with a last look to check that he is still breathing she moves towards the door indicated. Her thought is that if she gets the guy away from here and Josh comes around soon maybe he can escape and get some help. As she heads down the corridor she notices what looks like blood on the floor and realises someone else is obviously hurt.

Turning left the room she enters is a lounge room which is messy but with no obvious signs of violence. It is also empty. Once Grace reaches the centre of the room she turns around to face the man with the gun. He is pacing restlessly and talking to himself. Grace decides to try to negotiate with him, this is what she is trained for after all. "What's your name mate?"

No response.

She tries again "hey if you talk to me we can sort this out."

Still nothing.

Grace has another go "look nothing too bad has happened so far, if you stop this now everything will be okay"

Finally she gets a response, but not what she wanted. "what do you know about it?" he snarls then pointing the gun at her head says "Give me your phone. I know you've got one, everyone does these days, so hand it over."

Slowly Grace pulls the phone out of her pocket and holds it out to him.

He takes it and pushing her into a chair says "now sit down and shut up, I can't think with you talking." He then leaves the room closing the door behind him.

Grace immediately gets up and checks the windows, they are nailed shut. She looks around the room, no means of communication. Lastly she quietly heads over to the door and listens. She can hear the guy still talking to himself or to someone else but it sounds like it is coming from somewhere else in the house so she tries the door. Surprisingly it opens. She thought for sure it would be locked. Obviously this guy isn't thinking too clearly but she's not going to complain. As quietly as she can she opens the door wider and looks into the passage. She can see Josh still unconscious just inside the front door but the guy is no where to be seen. Silently she moves towards Josh. First checking that she can open the front door she places her hand over Josh's mouth so he won't make any noise and then shakes him to bring him around. Josh is groggy but comes to enough to realise what's going on and remains quiet. As Grace helps him to his feet she hears someone yell "where the hell do you think you're going."


	3. Hurry Lawson

Part 3

Grace doesn't even look to see who has spoken. She assumes it's the guy with the gun, but she is not wasting time finding out for sure. Whoever it is is some distance away judging by their voice and she and Josh are with in inches of freedom. Grace knows if they don't get out now they may never get out. So without hesitating she yells at Josh to move, grabs his hand and runs.

Josh, still trying to clear his head, is not totally sure what's going on. The last thing he remembers is entering the house with a guy holding a gun. But one thing he does know is from the tone of Grace's voice the situation isn't good so he does as she says without question.

Together they race down the path to the street and turn left. Josh is a bit unsteady and doing her best to help him Grace hears the guy let off a shot. They continue to run. Grace knows the shot hasn't hit her and she prays it's missed Josh too. Looking back over her shoulder as she hurries Josh along the road the guy is nowhere to be seen, but she is not taking any chances and keeps them moving. Josh is leaning on her heavily now and Grace figures the running probably didn't do his head injury any good. As soon as she can, when they are a safe distance away from the house, she sits him on the ground, leaning against a fence.

"Are you ok?" she asks worriedly "can I have your phone he took mine?"

But Josh can't move. He looks at Grace crouching in front of him. He knows she is asking him something but he can't seem to focus on what she is saying. He badly wants to sleep but knows he's got to fight it and it's taking everything he's got just to keep his eyes open.

"Josh?" she queries, worried by his lack of response. Still Josh doesn't respond. So Grace reaches into his pocket and grabs the phone herself. She dials Lawson's number. "Lawson, it's Grace. Josh and I are in a situation. He has been injured and we need an ambulance and backup at…" She looks around for a street name and number and gives them to Lawson along with some details of what happened. She then looks back at Josh, who is still staring at the spot where she was crouching, and adds "and Lawson, hurry." Grace hangs up and slips the phone into her pocket. As she looks up again she realises that Josh has slumped sideways and passed out again. She hurriedly bends down starting to panic now. She knows the guy hit him hard, she heard the impact, but he's tough he should be conscious. Then as she tries to move him the left side of his jacket falls open and she sees the blood pouring from a hole in his left shoulder. Christ, Josh has been shot.


	4. Grace begins to panic

Part 4

Grace frantically checks Josh is still breathing and has a pulse. "Thank god" she breaths. But she is flustered; she can't think what to do next. She is in panic mode and if Josh is going to survive she needs to be calm. So quickly taking a deep breath she tries to pull herself together and remember her training. As her mind finally starts to clear Grace drags off her jacket and uses it to put pressure on the wound. She then tries to wake Josh but he is still unconscious when help arrives. Grace watches helplessly as the ambos check his vital signs, replace her jacket with a dressing and lift Josh onto a stretcher. As he is wheeled towards the ambulance, still unconscious, she walks next to the stretcher holding his hand. Grace then steps inside as he is loaded into the back.

Lawson, who arrived at the same time as the ambulance, has already debriefed her but before the ambulance doors close he reappears. "How is he Grace?"

"I don't know he still hasn't regained consciousness." Grace replies worriedly "But the ambos say the wound doesn't look too bad."

"Ok well ring me from the hospital when you have news or… just ring me ok?"

"Of course Lawson, I'll call you later"

Lawson holds his hand up to signify that he understands and then steps back. Grace watches as the doors of the ambulance close and they finally leave for the hospital. Looking back at Josh she silently begs him to wake up.


	5. Relief

Part 5

Josh regains consciousness slowly and painfully. But when he opens his eyes Grace is there and she looks worried but seeing him awake she smiles at him and says "about time you woke up."

Josh is confused, last thing he knew they were in the street after he had been knocked out, now they are obviously in an ambulance. Frowning he asks "what's going on?"

"You're going to hospital, that's what's going on." Grace replies

"But I'm ok." Josh argues moving restlessly "I just got hit on the head".

"You're going" Grace says forcefully trying to hold him still. "You've been shot Josh"

"What? How? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. The guy got off a shot as we were leaving and hit you in the shoulder" Grace explains.

"But you're ok, he didn't touch you?" Josh asks concerned.

"No I'm fine Josh. But you need to be still." Then she adds with a smiles "so lie quietly until we get there will you or I'll make them use restraints on you."

Josh gives a small smile and closes his eyes. After talking his head feels like it is splitting in two and hearing about the gun shot he is suddenly aware of a searing pain in his left shoulder so he's happy just to lie there with her holding his hand.

Grace watches as he relaxes again and relief washes over her. Slowly she takes a deep breath and releases it in a long sigh then closing her eyes she rests her forehead on their clasped hands and silently says "thank you."

Josh, feeling her head resting on their hands opens his eyes again and asks "you okay?"

Grace lifts her head and smiles at him "I'm good, now."


End file.
